About Us

About Time Cane Corso: About Us

About Time Cane Corso was established in 2004, after two years of research, with the acquisition of an exceptionally stunning black female named Chingalana. 'Chinga' exuded class, style and standard, and exceeded our every expectation in both temperament and type. The privilege of having our lives enhanced by the presence of such a splendid Cane Corso established our love of the breed and our passion toward our future with them.

Our first retained pup, Chinga's daughter Chaos, served to confirm our suspicions that we had stumbled across an exceptional breed, and solidify our commitment and dedication to the future of the Cane Corso Italiano in the United States.

Faced with inconsistent type and unacceptable temperament issues in the breed within the US, we expanded our horizons by incorporating bloodlines from select Italian and European Cane Corso breeders. With the addition of several exceptional imports carefully selected from the world’s top producing and winning Cane Corso kennels, we built the foundation to establish a quality breeding program. We have imported original Cane Corso bloodlines to the United States of America to share the foundation they have for the Cane Corso breed here in the US. This blending of select bloodlines of Italian heritage, the best Europe has to offer, allows our breeding program to be built on the foundation of highly recognized and respected European breeders in our effort to produce as close as possible to 'the ideal' Cane Corso within the US.

Over the years, our dedication is reflected in our consistency producing exceptional examples of the ideal Cane Corso, consistent in character, stable in temperament, and true to type with the original breed standard and country of origin.

Richard & Laura

About Richard and Laura... We met in 2003 and have been happily married since 2006. Richard enjoys the cooler weather. Laura likes the warmer seasons. Oddly enough, we share the same quirky (oftentimes warped) sense of humor that is credited to (i.e.: blamed on) family genetics, and therefore not always fully under control. We are both warm-hearted animal lovers, but differ widely in our opinions of sushi.

We are blessed with a beautiful family of four children, Hope, Tristan, Riley, and Emily, who are in training to be future Jr. Show Handlers for our dogs, and currently provide hours of puppy socialization and snuggling.

Richard moved to New Mexico from California, and still has to get used to the slower-paced life in the desert at times. He enjoys fast cars, fine tequila, Italian Mastiffs, building computers, saltwater aquariums, fishing (not in the aquariums though), and he just can't pass up a good plate of sushi.

Laura was born in Michigan, although she grew up in New Mexico (after being transplanted to the middle of the desert at the tender young age of five). When she's not doing graphic and website design, she can usually be found out working with the dogs or taking photographs. She's the oldest in a family of 12 children, and credits her warped sense of humor to family genetics & fun times growing up.

We live in New Mexico, known as the Land of Enchantment, in the Rio Grande valley near the river bosque and big cottonwood trees, and just a brief drive from the Sandia Mountains. Despite the fact that NM became the 47th state in the USA in 1912, we still laugh about the multiple inquiries we receive asking if we can 'export' our pups to the US, and if they understand English or have been trained with Spanish commands!

Richard, Laura, Hope, Tristan, Riley & Emily, 2013

Our Breeding Philosophy

Our philosophy is that a correctly bred Corso, raised and socialized responsibly, will lay at your feet, play with your children, protect your family, show in conformation or working events, and will confidently perform in whichever areas you chose. We are proud of the Accomplished About Time Cane Corso dogs that are already Champions, and that are turning heads in show rings and working events across the states. At the same time we are no less proud of the About Time Cane Corsos that are stable loving companions in wonderful family homes as well.

Do a bit of research on the Cane Corso breed today, and you will find heated opinions and various types of dogs that differ so widely they seem to have nothing in common but the name. As to our breeding of an "About Time" Cane Corso, I will quote a well respected Arabian breeder who said, "If you are not clear as to what you want, it is much more difficult to produce the horse you will like."

In the midst of the relatively recent establishment of this breed in the U.S. from Italy, we remember that the Cane Corso does not necessarily need massive improvement or change. We are careful of the ways we let fuzzy thinking and widely varying opinion about type, temperament, size, performance, changing standards of the show ring, hype of various kinds, or others' opinions, change our own personal standards, and the original dogs.

As we personally have researched and narrowed our selections to our breeding decisions, we find ourselves refining what we want to produce in the type of our own preference. Certainly, every corso breeder has their preferred ideal dog, as we have ours. The characteristics we breed toward are founded on the original Italian breed standard (FCI 343) of type. We breed to produce a very muscular dog with massive bone, a broad and deep chest, a wide square head, well angulated hindquarters, and an overall balanced and athletic build. Our ideal is a fit, athletic, and agile dog: powerful yet graceful, well muscled and solid, but not heavy and over-wrinkled. We breed for a stable well-rounded temperament; a dog with the nature to protect if needed, the drive to compete and work, but the stability to be trusted as a child's companion at the end of the day. Our ideal size range is with the Italian standard, from 85 to 125 lbs. Some will find this smaller than the "average" corso found in the US in comparison, since some American lines have been bred to a much larger size, even exceeding 150 lbs. This true-to-standard size, however, results in a dog that is athletic and agile, functional as the breed should be - versus an oversized dog that is winded after a couple laps around a show ring and experiences hip and health issues compounded by their weight.

As an example of size versus functionality, About Time's Nyx, CAX, (photo at left), can complete a 600 yard lure coursing track in the 40 second range, versus full size geyhounds who complete the same track in the 50 second range. When competing at a lure couring event, Nyx, a Cane Corso Mastiff, outran all sighthounds present by a full 10 seconds, with bursts of speed up to 52 miles per hour! These amazing results are a direct reflection of true-to-type breeding producing an athletic and agile Cane Corso that can obtain powerful bursts of speed while athletically making tight turns without slowing down, and would never be possible for an oversized 150+ lb Cane Corso to achieve.

In a world of ordinary and conventional, only the most distinctive will ever leave a truly lasting impression.An About Time Cane Corso is anything but ordinary.
Our dogs and puppies are, in a word, Exceptional.

Our Dogs

We have a select small group of Cane Corsos here at About Time, carefully chosen with key points in mind. Versatility, temperament, drive, stability, health, conformation to the Italian (FCI 343) Breed Standard, and that underlying "presence" that makes the Cane Corso breed so unique.

About Time Cane Corso puppies share consistent traits. They are energetic, observant, playful puppies, who mature into alert adults with that Pure Corso Personality: both strong and sensitive, protective yet gentle, intelligent, mischievous (and smart enough to often get away with it), loyal, faithful, and completely, totally, undeniably, devoted to their family.

About Time Cane Corso dogs are selectively bred from exceptional heritage, imported directly from the treasured European bloodlines of Italy, Spain, Holland, Hungary, and Germany. We have chosen to work with some of the world's top European breeders who have painstakingly protected and preserved and the breed's genetic purity and functionality. The result is the continuance of an extraordinary breed founded on functionality: the exceptionally keen, agile, and intelligent Cane Corso Italiano - free from the type and temperament faults found in many of the over-bred generic corso commonly found in the United States.

At About Time Cane Corso we breed to better our bloodline and further our own breeding program. Every litter we breed is carefully planned with the goal of producing outstanding Cane Corso Puppies of exceptional quality. We know how much hard work goes into creating a beautiful intelligent and healthy Cane Corso puppy, and we want each of the families we chose for their new homes to know and appreciate the dedication that went into creating their new companion.

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